TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE

Audience: Teenagers and adults, but only
appropriate for
adults
REVIEWER: Dr. Ted
Baehr
THE TRIPLETS OF
BELLEVILLE is very imaginative
and clever. It opens up with
the triplets, three eccentric
female music-hall stars from
the 1930s, singing their
signature song on black and
white TV. As they’re
singing, several people come
on stage to perform, one of
whom is an African topless
dancer with bananas around her
waist. The men in the audience
rush on stage to grab the
bananas. The TV program
falters and we see Grandma
Souza and her grandson
Champion watching TV. She’s
trying to keep him from being
bored. She gives him a puppy
Bruno, but that does not cure
his boredom. She gives him an
electric train. Finally, she
gives him a tricycle after she
sees that he is interested in
the famous Tour de France
race.
Eventually, their little
house is surrounded by the big
city, and the elevated metro
goes right by Champion’s
window. Champion is training
for the Tour de France, with
his grandmother helping him
all the way. During the Tour
de France, the French mafia
captures Champion. His
grandmother follows them by
land and sea as Champion is
taken to Belleville, where
three other cyclists are
chained to stationary bicycles
for the amusement of mafia
gamblers. When they pedal,
little metal bicycles race
around the track, upon which
the gamblers bet. Grandma
meets up with the triplets,
who have some pretty gross
habits, including eating
frogs. Together they take on
the French mafia, with the
help of Bruno the dog.
THE
TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE needs
no dialogue and has very
little dialogue. It has some
very funny sight gags and some
very imaginative scenes. It
also has some grotesqueries,
such as the provocative
topless dancer, fat women who
sit on their husbands, and
some scatological humor. The
music at the front of the
movie is terrific, and the
movie has one of the best
trailers ever cut. However,
most of the movie has no
music, and this is a shame
because, even with all the
imagination, it needs some
background color that music
would provide.
If a couple of
scatological scenes were
removed, the movie would be
acceptable for all ages. As it
is, MOVIEGUIDE® urges extreme
caution for older teenagers
and adults.
Please address
your comments to:
Michael
Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie
Bloom
Co-Presidents
Sony
Pictures Classics
550 Madison
Avenue, 8th Floor
New York, NY
10022
Phone: (212)
833-8833
Web Page:
www.spe.sony.com

Rating: PG-13

Runtime:

Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Director: Sylvain Chomet

Executive Producer:

Producer: Didier Brunner and Paul
Cadieux

Writer: Sylvain Chomet

Address Comments To:

Content:

(BB, VV, N, A, D) Moral, pro-grandmother, pro-family worldview, with no religious references; no foul language, but some significant scatological humor; lots of action violence, including a man shot in the head, men kidnapped, men in bondage (non-sexual), car crashes, people beaten, and some comical violence such as men rush topless dancer with bananas around her waist in music hall, pratfalls, and man caught in the rump of a fat woman who sat on him; no sex; very provocative topless dancer; smoking; and, drinking.

GENRE: Animated/Comedy/Action Adventure

BB

VV

N

A

D

Summary:

THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE is a very clever, funny animated movie from France about a grandmother who must save her grandson from the French Mafia, with the help of three eccentric music-hall singers from the 1930s. If a couple of scatological scenes were removed, the movie would be entertaining and acceptable.

Review:

THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE is very imaginative and clever. It opens up with the triplets, three eccentric female music-hall stars from the 1930s, singing their signature song on black and white TV. As they’re singing, several people come on stage to perform, one of whom is an African topless dancer with bananas around her waist. The men in the audience rush on stage to grab the bananas. The TV program falters and we see Grandma Souza and her grandson Champion watching TV. She’s trying to keep him from being bored. She gives him a puppy Bruno, but that does not cure his boredom. She gives him an electric train. Finally, she gives him a tricycle after she sees that he is interested in the famous Tour de France race.

Eventually, their little house is surrounded by the big city, and the elevated metro goes right by Champion’s window. Champion is training for the Tour de France, with his grandmother helping him all the way. During the Tour de France, the French mafia captures Champion. His grandmother follows them by land and sea as Champion is taken to Belleville, where three other cyclists are chained to stationary bicycles for the amusement of mafia gamblers. When they pedal, little metal bicycles race around the track, upon which the gamblers bet. Grandma meets up with the triplets, who have some pretty gross habits, including eating frogs. Together they take on the French mafia, with the help of Bruno the dog.

THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE needs no dialogue and has very little dialogue. It has some very funny sight gags and some very imaginative scenes. It also has some grotesqueries, such as the provocative topless dancer, fat women who sit on their husbands, and some scatological humor. The music at the front of the movie is terrific, and the movie has one of the best trailers ever cut. However, most of the movie has no music, and this is a shame because, even with all the imagination, it needs some background color that music would provide.

If a couple of scatological scenes were removed, the movie would be acceptable for all ages. As it is, MOVIEGUIDE® urges extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.

Please address your comments to:

Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom

Co-Presidents

Sony Pictures Classics

550 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor

New York, NY 10022

Phone: (212) 833-8833

Web Page: www.spe.sony.com

SUMMARY: THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE is a very clever, funny animated movie from France about a grandmother who must save her grandson from the French Mafia, with the help of three eccentric music-hall singers from the 1930s. If a couple of scatological scenes were removed, the movie would be entertaining and acceptable.

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